Posts from — November 2009

There are so many Thanksgiving recipes to get posted before the big day!  I figured, I better get the star of the show up soon, as in today!

The turkey here is trussed, which means the wings and legs are bound closed. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps cook evenly, reduces shrinkage by about 15%, and also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

The pictures here are lifted from the internet and will be replaced with my pictures when I actually make my turkey next week. Until then…
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The second appetizer of the day for Thanksgiving is just as easy and quick as the first.

Hot Feta and Tomato Spread

16 ounces crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons, drained and chopped sun-dried tomatoes
5 plum (Roma) tomatoes, cut crosswise into thin slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pita chips
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With all the dishes you’ll be making for the big Thanksgiving feast, you need a couple of easy, quick, and tasty appetizers to go with the crudites. One of the quickest and easiest products to use is puff pastry.

Puff pastry can be purchased in the freezer section of the grocery store, usually near the pie crusts. Most grocery stores carry the Pepperidge Farms brand. Trader Joe’s also carries their own signature brand of puff pastry (you can pick up the tapenades there too). Both brands have two sheets of pastry per package, only one is needed for this recipe. Wrap well and refreeze the second sheet for future use.
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Before we get to the second poached pear recipe – a momentous occasion – for me, at least.  This is my 100th post, never imagined I’d get here when I began my blog back in August! Oh, Happy Day!  OK, enough self-congratulatory for now and on to the work at hand… savory poached pears…

Pears were poached in a sweet liquid and used for dessert in yesterday’s post. Today, these wine-poached pears are used in a savory salad. The flesh takes on a gorgeous deep red color.

Walnut oil is used for the vinaigrette, but olive oil can be substituted. Nut oils should always be stored in the refrigerator. Just like the nuts they come from, the oils go rancid quickly at room temperature.

The “seeds” of a fresh pomegranate are called arils and they should be showing up in markets since it is pomegranate season, take advantage and purchase them now, the season is short. The good news – arils can be frozen. To freeze, spread arils in a single layer on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for about two hours. Transfer frozen arils to a labeled and dated zip-lock bag. You can easily remove the amount you need when desired and return the rest quickly to the freezer.  They will keep for about 6 months.

This salad is beautiful for any of the upcoming holidays and the poaching liquid can be saved for an upcoming Thanksgiving recipe for Pearl Onions and Wild Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce, which will be posted later this week.*
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I believe I’ve mentioned this before – I love chai! My brain has been working overtime to come up with recipes to use the chai concentrate that I am totally addicted to. First up are poached pears in chai – these are delicious! The poaching liquid uses a fresh vanilla bean. Vanilla beans (and extract for that matter) are expensive, so be sure you’re getting a nice fresh one. The way to tell if it is fresh is to feel it. It should be soft and pliable, when you bend it, it should not break or crack. Costco sells gorgeous plump beans in a glass tube with a rubber stopper (the stopper helps keep them fresh longer once the package is opened). The glass tube is attached to a large piece of cardboard, look for it in the spice aisle. A good reason to purchase the beans at Costco is because of their high turnover. When purchasing vanilla beans at the grocery store, (where the turnover isn’t as quick) be sure to pull a bottle from the very back of the shelf and give it a good shake and listen to whether it sounds hard or soft. If you get it home and it is hard and breaking, be sure to return it, it is of no use in that state.

Once you remove the vanilla bean from the poaching liquid, allow it to dry on a counter for a couple of days, when it is completely dry, add it to your container of granulated sugar, the vanilla flavor will permeate the sugar and give you lovely vanilla scented sugar.

The best way to core the pears is with a melon-baller. It creates a perfectly round hole in the pear to fill. Tomorrow the other poached pear recipe – savory instead of sweet…
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Piping on the mashed potato-squash topping.

Shepherd’s pie, also known as cottage pie, just screams “Autumn!”  This version with its sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and maple flavor puts it over the top.  The entire dish can be made a day ahead, just leave off the sprinkling of paprika until immediately before putting it in the oven, cover and refrigerate and add about 15 minutes to the baking time.

This recipe can easily be switched out to use leftover turkey after Thanksgiving.  Just omit the sweet Italian sausage. Then once the maple breakfast sausage is browned, stir in 1 pound of shredded or chopped turkey meat and proceed with the recipe. If you have leftover mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and/or squash – mash them all together to make 3 to 4 cups and use that for the topping, in place of or in addition to, the roasted and mashed potatoes and squash in the recipe. And if you have leftover vegetables such as corn, green beans, cauliflower, etc. substitute for or add them to the corn, broccoli, and red peppers… you get the idea – be creative!

Autumn Shepherd’s Pie

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
8-ounces maple sausage breakfast links, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 cups peeled and chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary
2 cups broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley
5 dashes hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
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It’s been 2 weeks since Halloween and I still have candy around the house… this is not a good thing! Maybe your kids still have candy and you want to do away with it, or like me, you have extra candy you didn’t give out and now you’re sneaking a piece every day and just wish it would disappear and not to your hips. Why not put it to good use for your Christmas baking? These cookies freeze well and the recipe can be cut in half or even doubled depending on how much candy you need to get rid of. If you don’t have Nutella on hand, just use a full cup of peanut butter, although the Nutella adds a grown-up edge to these big chewy cookies.
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Thanksgiving is upon us! It is time to give you my “Thanksgiving Planning Guide”.  It doesn’t matter if you’re having just your family of 4 or 40 people for the big day, you need to have a plan and that plan needs to be set into action now!

10 Days to One Week Before Thanksgiving

• Confirm the number of guests and plan the menu.
• Create your shopping list, and buy nonperishable items and the frozen turkey, if using frozen
• If you are using a fresh turkey, order it now. Order pies, if needed.
• Plan your centerpiece(s) and decorations. Purchase and put together everything that is nonperishable.
• If you’re making pies, prepare the crusts. Roll out the dough, transfer to pie dishes, and store in the freezer.
• Bake any bread and rolls, and store them in the freezer.
•  Clean and press the table linens or take them to a dry-cleaner.
•  Polish the silver.
•  Clean out your refrigerator, making room for Thanksgiving foods.
•  Arrange to borrow or rent any tables, chairs, or linens.
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Pepitas are the seeds of squash, most commonly a pumpkin. The word pepita can refer to just the inside kernel of the seed or the entire un-hulled seed. What we want for this recipe is the inside hulled kernel, which is typically what you will find packaged and labeled as pepitas in our markets in the USA. They can be found raw or toasted, salted or unsalted. Another common use for the pepita kernels is to grind them and use them in mole (pronounced MOH-lay) which is the undisputed national sauce of Mexico.

Pepitas can be easily found in Mexican markets, health food stores, and locally at Trader Joe’s.  As with other seeds and nuts, pepitas have a high oil content and will turn rancid quickly, so only purchase the amount you need or store for up to 6 months in the freezer.  These make not only a great snack, but are delicious as a salad topping and are a perfect hostess gift for the holidays. Although this recipe is for pepitas, any nut (walnut, pecan, almond, macadamia, peanuts, or mixed nuts) may be substituted.
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Lemon… is one of my all-time favorite flavors!  Savory or sweet … main course or dessert … international or all-American … in my mind, you can’t beat the taste of lemon. I’ve made many different versions of lemon bars over the years; meringue topped, layered with cream cheese filling, raspberry topped, and so on. The flavor of the day is a lovely tropical blend of lemon, coconut, and almond. Until just recently you always had to toast most nuts yourself, but now you can find already toasted almond slices (and pine nuts too) at Trader Joe’s – another wonderful gift of convenience given to us by the wonderful TJ”s!

Dave and I are traveling down to Tucson for a quick 24-hour turn-around trip to visit our darling daughter, Marissa. After the Cut-Out Sugar Cookie post of the other day, Marissa asked me to bring her and her roommates, Kaley, Petra, Page, and Kelsey, a batch of decorated cookies. But as I said in the post, I don’t enjoy making those darn things, so the answer is “No!” But lemon bars, that’s another matter, these come together in moments, so girls, we, and these luscious lemon bars, are on our way down south…. see you soon! xoxo
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